Sao Paulo (City)

Introduction

São Paulo - Heavy Sky

São Paulo is the capital of the state of Sao Paulo and Brazil's largest city with a population of over 10 million people. It is also the most populous city in South America and the southern hemisphere. Locals go by paulistanos and the stunning architecture, with many skyscrapers, can awe anyone.

São Paulo officially became a city in 1711 and the economy of the area grew fast. The city dealt with many economic changes during its life and continued to thrive, such as the dropping of coffee prices in the beginning of the 20th century. During the early 20th century, countless immigrants from Europe, the Middle East and Japan came to the city in order to find their riches. Today, São Paulo is considered the richest city in Brazil.

Sights and Activities

Sala São Paulo

Sala São Paulo is a beautiful concert hall located in Julio Prestes Station. The station was constructed between 1926 and 1938 and served as a train station for several decades. Then in the 1990s the grand hall of the train station was turned into the current day concert hall. In order to honor the original design of the station even the sand imported in the restoration effort was brought in from the original source when the building was built in 1926. Today the amazing concert hall has amazing acoustics and can seat 1498 people making it a great place to check out a classical symphony or opera.

Sao Paulo Museum of Art

The Sao Paulo Museum of Art houses a huge collection of Western art, as well as a large collection of Brazilian art and smaller collections of African and Asian arts and collections of Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek and Roman antiquities as well as Pre-Columbian artifacts. Since 1969 the museum is located on the present location on the Paulista Avenue. The building itself is considered to be one of best examples of Brazilian modern architecture. Amongst the highlights are piantings by Raphael, Botticelli, Monet, Renoir, van Gogh and Rembrandt.

Ibirapuera Park

Ibirapuera Park is an amazing park located in the city centre. The park is home to many stunning sights including The Obelisk, a lake and many museums.

Events and Festivals

World Cup 2014

Australian Fans

The FIFA World Cup 2014 will be held in Brazil. It takes place from 12 June to 13 July 2014. It will be the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the previous being in 1950. The national teams of 32 countries will join the second biggest sports event in the world (after the Olympic Games). A total of 64 matches are to be played in twelve cities across Brazil, with the tournament beginning with a group stage. For the first time at a World Cup Finals, the matches will use goal-line technology. Twelve locations will be World Cup host cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo. They cover all the main regions of Brazil and create more evenly distributed hosting than the 1950 finals in Brazil provided, when matches were concentrated in the south-east and south. As a result the tournament will require significant long-distance travel for teams. Brazil opens the tournament against Croatia, played in Sao Paulo on the 12th of June, and the final will be played on the 13th of July in Rio de Janeiro.

Anima Mundi - An animation film festival held in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro every July since 1993.

São Paulo Art Biennial - Founded in 1951 by Ciccilio Matarazzo, one important Brazilian industrial of Italian background. Held at Ibirapuera Park since 1957 on a pavilion projected by Oscar Niemayer and Hélio Uchôa.

São Paulo Fashion Week

São Paulo Gay Pride Parade - One of the biggest parades in the world. More than 2 million people participates every year. It is an almost out seasoned carnival.

São Paulo International Film Festival or "Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo" has been held since 1977, in October and November.

São Silvestre International Race or Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre - Every December 31, Paulista Avenue is full of people to celebrate the new´s year eve running at the streets of São Paulo. Since 1924 until 1990, the athletes used to run at night.

Weather

The city has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate. In summer, mean temperatures are between 17 °C and 28 °C, and 32 °C on the hottest days. In winter, temperatures are between 11 °C and 23 °C, and 6 °C. on the coldest days. The highest temperature recorded was 35.3 °C on November 15, 1985 and the lowest recorded was -2 °C on August 2, 1955. Rainfall is abundant, amounting to an annual average of 1,454 millimetres. It is especially common in the warmer months and decreases in winter. During late winter, especially August, the city experiences the phenomenon known as "veranico" or "verãozinho" ("little summer"), which consists of a bout of unusually hot and dry weather, sometimes reaching temperatures well above 28 °C. On the other hand, relatively cool days during summer are fairly common when persistent winds blow from the ocean. On such occasions daily high temperatures may not surpass 20 °C.

Bus: There is a public bus that runs every 30 minutes and travels to the city center of Sao Paulo. Counters at the airport for this bus service can be found at the Arrivals area of both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. From the airport, there is also a shuttle bus that stops at many places as well as the main beaches in the area.

Car/Taxi: Taxis are available at both terminals, or bookings prior to arrival can be made as well. A taxi from Sao Paulo airport can take up to 2 hours in peak hours, or as little as 45 minutes early in the morning or late evening. Car rental is available from the airport, although traffic in Sao Paulo is very bad and driving in the central city is not recommended. By car take either the Ayrton Senna highway or Presidente Dutra highway to the airport.

Congonhas-São Paulo Airport (CGH) only offers domestic flights with around 5 airlines serving several dozens of destinations throughout Brazil. Taxis are available outside of the airport, keep in mind that not all international credit cards work in Brazil so it's useful to have local currency to pay for your journey when you arrive. A taxi from Sao Paulo Congonhas airport will take around 40 minutes to most hotels in the downtown area.

By Train

Luz Station is one of the main train stations in the city.

By Car/Taxi

Taxis are available outside of both airports, keep in mind that not all international credit cards work in Brazil so it's useful to have local currency to pay for your journey when you arrive. Keep in mind that Sao Paulo has very bad traffic and journey times can increase dramatically if travelling to or from the airport in peak hours.

Getting Around

Transport in São Paulo can be anything from complicated to hellish. Peak hours are normally roughly 6:00am-9:00am and 4:00pm-8:00pm, but since city roads are constantly on the edge of their capacity, any little incident can cause major queues and delays. The cheapest way for tourists to get around is to use the subway/metro, trains and trolleybuses as much as possible, and then take a taxi for shorter distances.

By Car

Due to constant traffic jams, driving at rush hour is not advisible.

By Public Transport

The city has 61.3 kilometres of underground and light rail systems. With 4 lines operating and 55 stations it is possible to get to many tourist locations in the city by the public metro. Check the Metrô - SP page for more information. The three companies operating the rail network are Metrô, CPTM and ViaQuatro. There are the lines which are more likely to be useful to a visitor:

Line 1 (Blue) - The first metro line built runs from North to South, passing through the Historical Center. Tietê and Jabaquara bus terminals are also reachable through via Line 1 (Blue). Operated by Metrô.

Line 2 (Green) - The Green line runs from West to East, passing through Avenida Paulista. Operated by Metrô.

Line 3 (Red) - One of São Paulo's busiest lines, it runs from West to East (north of Line 2 (Green), and far more extensive), passing through the Historical Center. The Barra Funda bus terminal is on the west end of this line. Operated by Metrô.

Line 4 (Yellow) - Connects the Historical Center to the West (mostly south of Line 2 (Green)), passing through Avenida Paulista. It will be fully operating in 2012. Operated by ViaQuatro.

Line 9 (Emerald) - Runs from North to South (west of Line 1 (Blue)), crossing the entire West. Operated by CPTM.

The Bilhete Único is a transport smartcard that is used for paying fares on buses, subways, and trains. In essence, a single billing of the card grants a person up to four trips in São Paulo's public transportation system with free transfers between the subway system and buses within 3 hours. Fare charging rules are as follows:

On buses - upon boarding a bus, you'll be charged R$3,00 and can board up to three other buses in a three-hour period without being charged a second time.

On the Metro or CPTM trains - for a single trip in the underground train system, you'll be charged R$3,00.

First Metro/CPTM train then bus - you'll be charged R$2,90 when passing by a Metro or CPTM station's turnstile. Once you board a bus, you'll be charged an extra R$1,20 and will be able to board two other buses in a two-hour period - starting from the first validation at the train station - without any further payment.

First bus then Metro/CPTM train - once you board a bus, R$3,00 is charged from your card. Upon entering the Metro or CPTM systems, you'll be charged a further R$1,45. It's possible, after leaving the Metro or CPTM system, to board up to two other buses without any further payment in the two-hour period that starts from the first validation, depending on whether you boarded one or two buses before entering a train.

By Foot

Although required by the national transit law, pedestrians are definitely not the priority in Sao Paulo, where cars dominate the streets and roads. Take care whenever crossing the streets, watching out for cars that may come unexpectedly, even if the pedestrian lights are green. Do not try to cross large roads with a high volumes of car traffic: usually there will be a pedestrian viaduct or bridge at some point in the sidewalk. Despite the aggressiveness found in the transit, one can still have peaceful walks across town. The Historic Center area and Avenida Paulista are definitely places to be explored on foot. Check the individual district listings for other nice walks.

By Bike

Eat

D.O.M. - D.O.M. is a Brazilian restaurant run by Alex Atala. It is considered to be the best restaurant in South America. It was ranked #4 in The World's Best Restaurants list sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. Address: Rua Barão de Capanema 549 Jardins, São Paulo, 01411-011, Brazil, Phone: +55 11 3088.0761, Hours: Lunch Monday to Friday 12:00pm-3:00pm. Dinner Monday to Saturday 7:00pm-12:00am.

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes (Lan houses) are increasingly common, and even small towns often have at least one spot with more or less decent connections.An increasing number of hotels, airports and shopping malls also offer hotspots for Wi-Fi with your laptop computer or of course smartphone. Sometimes it is free, sometimes you need to register and there is a time limite and sometimes you need to pay a small amount for (day) use.

Phone

The country calling code to Brazil is: 55. To make an international call from , the code is: 0014. All cities use the following emergency numbers: 190 (police), 192 (medical) and 193 (fire department). However, if you dial 911 or 112 while in Brazil, you will be redirected to the police.Brazil uses two-digit area codes, and phone numbers are eight digits long. Numbers beginning with digits 2 to 5 are land lines, while eight-digit numbers beginning with digits 6 to 9 are mobile phones.

Public payphones use disposable prepaid cards, which come with 20, 40, 60 or 75 credits. The discount for buying cards with larger denominations is marginal. Phone booths are nearly everywhere, and all cards can be used in all booths, regardless of the owner phone company. Cards can be bought from many small shops, and almost all news agents sell them.

Post

Correios is the national postal service of Brazil. It is a government run postal service and overseen by the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. Post offices are generally open from Monday to Friday from 09:00am to 5:00pm, although post offices located in shopping malls have their own opening hours, usually from 10:00am to 10:00pm. There are no set opening hours at weekends and as post office owners can choose when to open and close. More and more post offices are open until 1:00pm on Saturdays though. You can check things at the nearest post office.

Sending postcards, letters and parcels is a rather straightforward process and services are reliable, though not overly fast when sending post internationally, mostly taking about a week to the USA and Europe, and there is a track-and-trace service for this as well. Domestically, there are both next day as well as more expensive same day delivery options. Stamps are available at post offices, as well as some kiosks or other places where they sell postcards.

For sending packages internationally, you can also used competitively priced private companies like TNT, UPS or DHL. They are generally much quicker and not much more expensive.